pickle

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: pick=le

CIDE DICTIONARY

pickle, n. 

 See Picle.  [1913 Webster]

pickle, n. [Cf. D. pekel. Probably a dim. fr. Pick, v. t., alluding to the cleaning of the fish.].

•  A solution of salt and water, in which fish, meat, etc., may be preserved or corned; brine.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any article of food which has been preserved in brine or in vinegar.  [1913 Webster]
•  A bath of dilute sulphuric or nitric acid, etc., to remove burnt sand, scale rust, etc., from the surface of castings, or other articles of metal, or to brighten them or improve their color.  [1913 Webster]
•  A troublesome child; as, a little pickle.  [1913 Webster]

To be in a pickle, to be in disagreeable position; to be in a condition of embarrassment, difficulty, or disorder. “How cam'st thou in this pickle?” Shak. -- To put a rod in pickle, to prepare a particular reproof, punishment, or penalty for future application.

pickle, v. t. 

•  To preserve or season in pickle; to treat with some kind of pickle; as, to pickle herrings or cucumbers.  [1913 Webster]
•  To give an antique appearance to; -- said of copies or imitations of paintings by the old masters.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

pickle, n. & v.
--n.
1 a (often in pl.) food, esp. vegetables, preserved in brine, vinegar, mustard, etc. and used as a relish. b the brine, vinegar, etc. in which food is preserved.
2 colloq. a plight (a fine pickle we are in!).
3 Brit. colloq. a mischievous child.
4 an acid solution for cleaning metal etc.
--v.tr.
1 preserve in pickle.
2 treat with pickle.
3 (as pickled adj.) sl. drunk.

Etymology

ME pekille, pykyl, f. MDu., MLG pekel, of unkn. orig.

THESAURUS

pickle

acid, acidulant, anhydrate, baffle, bafflement, bearings, bewilderment, bind, blast-freeze, booze up, boozify, bother, box, bread-and-butter pickle, brine, case, chokecherry, circumstance, clutch, complication, condition, confoundment, confusion, corn, corner, crab apple, crock, crunch, cure, dehydrate, desiccate, dilemma, dill pickle, discomposure, disconcert, disconcertedness, disconcertion, disconcertment, disturbance, dry, dry-cure, dry-salt, embalm, embarrassing position, embarrassment, enigma, estate, evaporate, fine how-do-you-do, fix, footing, freeze, freeze-dry, fuddle, fume, green apple, hell to pay, hobble, hole, hot water, how-do-you-do, imbroglio, irradiate, jam, jerk, kipper, lemon, lime, location, lot, marinade, marinate, mess, mix, modality, mode, morass, mummify, mystery, nonplus, overtake, parlous straits, pass, perplexity, perturbation, pinch, place, plaster, plight, pollute, position, posture, pother, predicament, preservatize, pretty pass, pretty pickle, pretty predicament, problem, puzzle, puzzlement, quagmire, quandary, quick-freeze, quicksand, rank, refrigerate, riddle, salt, scrape, season, situation, slough, smoke, smoke-cure, sour, sour balls, sour cream, sour grapes, sour pickle, sourdough, souse, spot, squeeze, standing, state, station, status, stew, sticky wicket, stone, strait, straits, stuff, swack, swamp, tight spot, tight squeeze, tightrope, tipsify, tricky spot, unassuredness, unholy mess, upset, verjuice, vinegar, yogurt

ROGET THESAURUS

pickle

State

N state, condition, category, estate, lot, ease, trim, mood, pickle, plight, temper, aspect, dilemma, pass, predicament, constitution, habitude, diathesis, frame, fabric, stamp, set, fit, mold, mould, mode, modality, schesis, form, tone, tenor, turn, trim, guise, fashion, light, complexion, style, character, conditional, modal, formal, structural, organic, conditionally, as the matter stands, as things are, such being the case.

Preservation

VB preserve, maintain, keep, sustain, support, hold, keep up, keep alive, refrigerate, keep on ice, not willingly let die, bank up, nurse, save, rescue, be safe, make safe, take care of, guard, stare super antiquas vias, hold one's own, hold one's ground, stand one's ground, embalm, cure, salt, pickle, season, kyanize, bottle, pot, tin, can, sterilize, pasteurize, radiate, dry, lyophilize, freeze- dry, concentrate, evaporate, freeze, quick-freeze, deep-freeze, husband.

Difficulty

N difficulty, hardness, impracticability, tough work, hard work, uphill work, hard task, Herculean task, Augean task, task of Sisyphus, Sisyphean labor, tough job, teaser, rasper, dead lift, dilemma, embarrassment, deadlock, perplexity, intricacy, entanglement, complexity, cross fire, awkwardness, delicacy, ticklish card to play, knot, Gordian knot, dignus vindice nodus, net, meshes, maze, coil, crooked path, involvement, nice point, delicate point, subtle point, knotty point, vexed question, vexata quaestio, poser, puzzle, paradox, hard nut to crack, nut to crack, bone to pick, crux, pons asinorum, where the shoe pinches, nonplus, quandary, strait, pass, pinch, pretty pass, stress, brunt, critical situation, crisis, trial, rub, emergency, exigency, scramble, scrape, hobble, slough, quagmire, hot water, hornet's nest, sea of troubles, peck of troubles, pretty kettle of fish, pickle, stew, imbroglio, mess, ado, false position, set fast, stand, standstill, deadlock, dead set, fix, horns of a dilemma, cul de sac, hitch, stumbling block, crab, curmudgeon, difficult, not easy, hard, tough, troublesome, toilsome, irksome, operose, laborious, onerous, arduous, Herculean, formidable, sooner said than done, more easily said than done, easier said than done, difficult to deal with, hard to deal with, ill-conditioned, crabbed, crabby, not to be handled with kid gloves, not made with rose water, awkward, unwieldy, unmanageable, intractable, stubborn, perverse, refractory, plaguy, trying, thorny, rugged, knotted, knotty, invious, pathless, trackless, labyrinthine, intricate, complicated, impracticable, not feasible, desperate, embarrassing, perplexing, delicate, ticklish, critical, beset with difficulties, full of difficulties, surrounded by difficulties, entangled by difficulties, encompassed with difficulties, under a difficulty, in a box, in difficulty, in hot water, in the suds, in a cleft stick, in a fix, in the wrong box, in a scrape, in deep water, in a fine pickle, in extremis, between two stools, between Scylla and Charybdis, surrounded by shoals, surrounded by breakers, surrounded by quicksands, at cross purposes, not out of the wood, reduced to straits, hard pressed, sorely pressed, run hard, pinched, put to it, straitened, hard up, hard put to it, hard set, put to one's shifts, puzzled, at a loss, at the end of one's tether, at the end of one's rope, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, at a standstill, graveled, nonplused, nonplussed, stranded, aground, stuck fast, set fast, up a tree, at bay, aux abois, driven into a corner, driven from pillar to post, driven to extremity, driven to one's wit's end, driven to the wall, au bout de son Latin, out of one's depth, thrown out, accomplished with difficulty, hard-fought, hard-earned, with difficulty, with much ado, barely, hardly, uphill, against the stream, against the grain, d rebours, invita Minerva, in the teeth of, at a pinch, upon a pinch, at long odds, against long odds, ay there's the rub, hic labor hoc opus, things are come to a pretty pass, ab inconvenienti, ad astra per aspera, acun chemin de fleurs ne conduit a la gloire.

Water

VB be watery, reek, add water, water, wet, moisten, dilute, dip, immerse, merge, immerge, submerge, plunge, souse, duck, drown, soak, steep, macerate, pickle, wash, sprinkle, lave, bathe, affuse, splash, swash, douse, drench, dabble, slop, slobber, irrigate, inundate, deluge, syringe, inject, gargle.

Pungency

VB be pungent, bite the tongue, render pungent, season, spice, salt, pepper, pickle, brine, devil, smoke, chew, take snuff.

Condiment

N condiment, seasoning, sauce, spice, relish, appetizer, salt, mustard, grey poupon mustard, pepper, black pepper, white pepper, peppercorn, curry, sauce piquante, caviare, onion, garlic, pickle, achar, allspice, bell pepper, Jamaica pepper, green pepper, chutney, cubeb, pimento, capsicum, red pepper, chili peppers, cayenne, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, oregano, cloves, fennel, pot herbs, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, marjoram, frankincense, balm, myrrh, paprika, saffron, ginger, turmeric.